Hazel Park board votes to reinstate superintendent, sets May 28 return with 14-day transition
Summary
The Hazel Park School District board voted 4-3 to return Dr. Kroupi to work on May 28, with the interim superintendent to remain for a 14-day transition. The decision followed debate over whether a disciplinary hearing or a written plan must be completed before reinstatement.
The Hazel Park Board of Education voted 4-3 on May 27 to reinstate Dr. Kroupi as superintendent effective Wednesday, May 28, and agreed that the interim superintendent will remain for a 14-day transition period.
Board member Price moved to return Dr. Kroupi to work on May 28 and to keep the interim superintendent in place during a 14-day handover; the motion was seconded. After discussion about contractual requirements for discipline hearings and a plan of assistance, the board approved the motion with four members voting yes and three voting no.
The vote came amid repeated remarks from district administrators and members of the public that district planning and operations — including strategic planning and end-of-year work — would be disrupted if the superintendent’s return was delayed. ‘‘We are at a crucial point in the year…Delaying her return until after this critical planning window closes could mean missing a valuable opportunity for meaningful progress,’’ said a Hazel Park principal during public comment (public comment excerpted in the meeting transcript).
Board members who opposed immediate reinstatement cited uncertainty about whether the board had completed a required hearing or finalized a formal discipline plan before bringing the superintendent back. A board member noted the superintendent’s contract may require a hearing in cases involving disciplinary action and said no concrete disciplinary plan had yet been completed.
Other board members argued the district has discretion to set terms for return while continuing to pursue any required process. One board member said administrators had asked specifically to have the superintendent back before many building leaders leave for summer, arguing that an overlapping transition would allow staff and leadership to complete year-end tasks.
The motion approved reinstates Dr. Kroupi to active duty on or before May 28 and directs the interim superintendent to remain for the 14-day transition period while the board continues work on any outstanding procedural steps, including the creation or review of a plan of assistance or any disciplinary actions. The board did not adopt a finalized disciplinary letter or plan at the meeting.
The decision follows a period in which the superintendent had been placed on paid, administrative leave while the district retained outside counsel and investigators to review allegations. Multiple speakers during public comment urged the board to publish investigation findings to rebuild trust; the board later considered, and narrowly rejected, a motion to distribute the written investigation results to board members by email (see related article on the report distribution vote).
